In the hydrocarbon recovery industry it is desirable to maintain high production rates of hydrocarbons while minimizing production of other fluids, such as water, for example. Earth formations with low permeability can restrict the flow and consequently, the production of hydrocarbons. To increase the permeability of an earth formation, operators often fracture the formation with pressure. To do so, an operator needs to be able to open a fracture valve to expose a portion of a downhole formation to pressure supplied through a tubular, such as a drillstring or a production string, for example. Closure of the fracture valve upon completion of the fracture operation could allow the operator to perform additional operations.
One such operation is to equalize or balance production across various portions of a well to prevent producing excess undesirable fluids that may breakthrough in portions of the well while not breaking through in other portions. Equalizers are used for this purpose. Typical systems require an operator to run separate drillstrings or production strings to perform the fracturing and the equalizing. Operators would be receptive to systems that permit fracturing and equalizing with the running of a single drillstring or production string.